Background

New regulatory requirements for donor eligibility challenge blood centers to recruit and retain enough donors. This study evaluated correlations between overall satisfaction with the donation process and donor demographics and the effect of both on a donor's intent to return.

Study design and methods

An anonymous, self-administered questionnaire was given to donors at multiple sites of one blood center over a 3-week period. First-time and repeat donors were asked questions on demographic characteristics, satisfaction with the current donation process, motivation for current and future donations, and intent to return.

Results

More than 75 percent of donors rated the overall donation process at 9 or 10 on a scale of 10 (mean, 9.19; standard deviation, 1.09), with female, high school-educated, and first-time donors giving higher satisfaction ratings than male, college-educated, and repeat donors, respectively (all p < 0.001). Donor satisfaction was correlated with intent to return for another donation (p = 0.002). For the current donation, donors rated altruistic motivations most highly. Medical testing was the most highly rated incentive for future donations, followed by frequent donor programs and convenient donation times and locations; preferences varied by demographic subgroup.

Conclusions

Blood donor satisfaction varies among demographic and donation history subgroups and is positively correlated with the intent to return for future donation. Although the primary motivation among all donors was altruism, incentives to future donation may need to be tailored according to demographic subgroups.

Background

Before mutation testing of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) gene was recognized as highly associated with the activity of EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), clinically defined patient populations with bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (BAC) and never smokers were identified as likely to benefit from EGFR TKIs. From preclinical and clinical data suggesting potentially improved efficacy with a combination of an EGFR TKI and the antiangiogenic agent bevacizumab, the Southwestern Oncology Group (SWOG) initiated paired phase II trials to evaluate the combination of erlotinib/bevacizumab in patients with advanced BAC (SWOG S0635) or never smokers with advanced lung adenocarcinoma (SWOG S0636).

Materials and methods

Eligible patients with BAC or adenocarcinoma with BAC features (SWOG S0635) or never smokers with advanced lung adenocarcinoma (SWOG S0636) received erlotinib 150 mg/day with bevacizumab 15 mg/kg until progression or prohibitive toxicity. Never smokers with BAC were preferentially enrolled to SWOG S0636. The primary endpoint for both trials was overall survival.

Results

A total of 84 patients were enrolled in the SWOG S0635 trial and 85 in the SWOG S0636 trial. The objective response rate was 22% (3% complete response) in the SWOG S0635 trial and 50% (38% confirmed; 3% complete response) in the SWOG S0636 trial. The median progression-free survival was 5 and 7.4 months in the S0635 and S0636 trials, respectively. The median overall survival was 21 and 29.8 months, respectively. Toxicity consisted mainly of rash and diarrhea in both trials.

Conclusion

Although the field has moved toward molecular, rather than clinical, selection of patients as optimal candidates for EGFR TKI therapy, these results support the hypothesis that a subset of patients in whom erlotinib is particularly active could receive an incremental benefit from the addition of bevacizumab.